Over 200,000 members of the Reader’s Club Scheme (RCS), under the National Book Foundation (NBF), suffer as they are denied the opportunity to buy books at 50 percent discounted rates. The RCS had commenced under the NBF in 1984 and is one of the most public oriented book promotion schemes ever, attracting readers to buy books of their choice at half price. An NBF official told Pakistan Today that the scheme benefited the book industry, helped boost the literacy rate, and created reasonable demand for good quality reading material.
The RCS had been running for twenty five years on yearly grants of over twenty million rupees, sanctioned by the former Ministry of Education soon after the announcement of the budget every year. But for the last two years (2009 and 2010), funding for the project was stalled. Despite requests from the NBF to the Ministry of Education for funds, and commitments from the latter, this year sees no signs of funding for the project either.
Following the devolution of the Ministry of Education from federal to provincial level, the National Book Foundation (NBF)’s book-reading promotional projects have been endangered, and the fate of its hundreds of employees hangs in the balance, as the government has decided to merge the NBF with the National Language Authority (NLA), under the Cabinet Division.
Sources mentioned that the government is not serious about continuing the RCS, and the office of the Accountant General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR) has stopped the encashment of the cheque for this particular scheme even though it only requires the meager amount of twenty million rupees to benefit over two hundred thousand readers. The NBF is in further trouble as it has two years’ worth of outstanding bills from publishers to repay, and needs funds immediately to clear these. A source pointed out that people from fifty three cities across the country were part of this scheme, and it was working to benefit not only individual readers but also publishers, writer and the society as a whole.
A number of the Reader’s Club members, while talking to Pakistan Today, said that under RCS, the dying habit of book reading was being slowly revived. A member, Kashif Pervaiz, said that since the expiry of his card in June 2009, he has been ‘struggling in quest of knowledge.’ “The newly-printed books available in the market are priced at very high costs and are beyond the reach of students like myself. I wonder why such a fruitful scheme is being suspended,” he said. Another member, Sumaira Kanwal, stated that there are already very few schemes to help readers increase their capacity to purchase books; abilities which invoke the individual’s urge to play a part in building an informed and aware society. “I had been enjoying the facility of purchasing books at half rates for five years, but since the scheme was put on hold two years ago, and I have suffered as I can’t afford books at full price.” Kanwal added that shelving this scheme will be a huge blow for readers.
An advocate by profession, Waseem Elahi told Pakistan Today that he was an old member of the Reader’s Club. “I have raised my voice on many forums for the revival of this scheme but nothing was done. Last year, I decided to approach the Federal Ombudsman Secretariat and formally lodge an application appealing that RCS be restarted for the benefit of its members,” revealed Elahi, “The Ombudsman’s office took an action on my complaint and sought a reply from the Secretary of Education. But the ministry has not yet acknowledged the concern of the complainant and claimed that there is no negligence or malpractice on part of itself.” Elahi also asked why it was that despite the scheme being suspended, the website of the National Book Foundation (www.nbf.gov.pk), claims it is still in action.
NBF’s merger with NLA under the Cabinet Division: According to NBF officials, the authorities have decided to let the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) and National Library work in their present capacity while the NBF is being merged with the National Language Authority (NLA). The merger case is still pending in the Islamabad High Court (IHC). Besides the uncertain future of NBF employees, and the Reader’s Club Scheme, projects like Book Ambassadors, Book Clubs, Promotion of Child Literature and others also have an uncertain future now.
A former official of the NBF anonymously informed Pakistan Today that the NLA and NBF are two very different organizations; the National Language Authority’s mandate is to promote Urdu language while NBF promotes the provision of books to the general public, including visually handicapped people, and especially students. The two organizations are also structurally divorced from each other, the official explained; NBF was established through an act of the Parliament under the then Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, while NLA was established through a parliamentary resolution. “An institution that is established through an act of Parliament cannot be merged with an organization that is formed through a resolution,” he explained. The official further went on to ask how two institutions that are entirely different from each other (both in mandate and nature of responsibilities) can be merged into one. He added that “It is surprising that such step to end Bhutto’s legacy, which even dictators like Gen Zia and Gen Musharraf had not taken, is being taken by a PPP government.”
The contractual employees at NBF fear the axe in case of a merger, “I have been serving in NBF for 14 years on a contract basis, and instead of acknowledging my services here I might be thrown out for no reason”, said an employee. When contacted, Deputy Director NBF Nuzhat Akbar clarified that the decision of merging NBF into NLA has not yet been finalized as NBF employees have filed a petition in the High Court against the merger. When asked about ‘endangered projects’ like the Reader’s Club Scheme, she said she stated that she is on leave and that the Managing Director, Mazhar-ul-Islam, or his secretary Aftab Soomro should be contacted in this regard as she is not authorized to speak on this matter. Both MD Islam and his secretary were not available, and when Soomro was later contacted, he refused to comment.